Building



Feb. 12, 1952 E. P. SIMON 2,585,051

BUILDING Filed Oct. 26, 1946 i s Sheets-Sheet 1 HGL Z- 7 &% %i%WITNESSES 2 I INVENTQR:

Eda/420 281172012,

Z/Mwh a Feb. 12, 1952 E. P. SIMON 2,535,051

, BUILDING Filed Oct. 26, 1946 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESSES Z1 22 Z Z!INVENTOR:

M BY Arm Feb. 12, 1952 p, slMON 2,585,051

BUILDING Filed 001. 25, 1946 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 WITNESSES I N V EN TOR m WEdward 81722012 A TTORNEYS.

E. P. SIMON Feb. 12, 1952 BUILDING 8 Shee ts-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 26, 1946m h w I 1 70i Ei A INVENTOR: EdwurdESi/w/L.

I ATTORNEYS.

Feb. f2, 1952 E. P. SIMON 2,585,051

BUILDING.

Filed Oct. 26, 1946 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 W1 TNESSES INVENTOI Q Elia/01 0252122912 E. P. SIMON Feb. 12, 1952 BUILDING 8 Sheets-Sheet '7 FiledOct. 26, 1946 I N VENT 0R-' EdwaziESI/fim,

A TTORNEYS.

WITNESSES Z/M 7 Q W E. P. SIMON Feb. 12, 1952 BUILDING 8 Sheets-Sheet 8Filed Oct. 26, 1946 JZa WITNESSES Patented Feb. 12, 1952Simon,=executrix of said Edward 1P. :Simondeceased, assignor to LyleBoulware, -Philadel 1phia, Pa.

Application Octoberf26, 1946, Serial Nof-705,958 15'Ulaims. (01. 202)This invention relates "to *buildings, and has reference moreparticularly to individual buildingsintended for use-as dwellings.

Heretofore in "building construction, each component member or elementwas "designed for capacity to itself-withstand the total stresses "orstrains due to "weight load, =wind pressure or other causes which it'might be called upon to bear at any point thereof, and to my knowledgeno attempt was ever made -to utilize the'latent resistence or othercomponents of *the buildings ;to share such stresses or strains. Underthese conditions, the 'various structural components of the buildingshad to "be made "relatively'heavy and 'entailed the use ofcorrespondingly large amounts of material in theirindividualconstruction. One of the aims of my invention isto-overcomethe above drawbacks of the prior-art practice, which objective "isrealized -'as hereinafter more fully disclosed, through provision of asystem of interlocking joints by which the "floor, wall, roof andinterior partition wall components of the buildings are eiiectivelyunited in such a manner that the stresses 101' "strains *to which .anyone or more of "them may be directly subjected atany onetime arecommunicated to and proportionately shared by all of the others thebuilding, to "the advantage *that the different components can beconstructed ,much lighter than ordinarily without sacrifice in thestrength and stability of the completed buildings,and at a great savingin the amount of material "used "in their jfabrication.

.A further aim v of my invention is to enable buildings to beconstructed in quality more g quic ly than heretofore, as well as moreeconomically from the standpoint of "labor costs. This latter objectiveis also attained as hereinafter more fully disclosed, through provisionof preiabricated floor, wall, :roof and interior :par- ;titioncomponents 3or-units which are so "dimensioned as to allow of theirbeing readily handled incident to transportation 'from the factory aswell as during erection of the bu'ildings, and in which are incorporatedmeans bywhich'they are connected and interlocked onewith'anotherinc'ident to assembling in the manner and for the purposeherein before pointed out, the joints being of such character thatseepage of water or ,air cannot take place through them.

Other objects and attendant advantages will appear from the followingdetailed description of the attached drawings, wherein Fig. 1 "is abroken out more orless diagrammatic view of a 'for certain details as--presen'tly noted.

section for the "better illustration [of important details.

Fig. it shows "the :ground tflcoristructure ,of the building in topplan, :likewise with ca rportion broken out and parts ithereoit inhorizontal isec etion.

Fig. 75 is a fragmentary detail aviewadrawnto a ?larger scale taken asindicated by the angled arrows V--V in1 "ig; 4.

"Fig. :6 is a plan :view looking as iin'dicated by thesangledarrows VI-VI-in'Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 "is a fragmentary view in elevation looking as indic avlted bythe angled -arrows in =6.

v Fig. '8 is a horizontal sectional view taken as indica'ted "by' theangled arrows "in Figs. 9 and 10 are fragmentary detail sections takenas indicated respectively "by the angled ar- =-rows TX-IX and X- XinFigs. 2 and 3.

Fig.'-11 is a perspectiveview'of aprefabr'icated section designed foruse in the formation-of the upper floor of the building; and

"Fig. 12 is a view in transverse section similar to-Fig. '2 butmorediagrammatically represented, of somewhat modified embodiment 01 my "in-"vention.

As herein illustrated, my improved building has a ground floor structure'(Fig. "4) made up of prefabricated straight si'ded sections or units inwhich are preferably of the same dimensions throughout and 'of similar"construction except The ground floorsections 10 arelaids'ide by sideand in the illustrated instance arranged in rows lengthwise of thebuilding, withtheir outer ends resting on the longitudinal walls H of aprelaid masonry foundation, and with their inner mutually-abutting endsresting :on an intermediate longitudinal 12 of the inundation, therespectively remote end sections 10 of the two series being s pportedalong their outer edges upon the end walls 13 of said foundation. .LEachground floor section 10 comprises a .number of spaced joist members :towhich the floorboards 1'5 are secured and which are connected at theirbottoms "by sub-boards 16. The sections I0 .01

gable ended "build n conveniently embo ying the two series are lockedtogether by a double dove tail key I! which extends longitudinally ofthe building through complementally-arranged undercut key ways I8 formedin their abutting inner ends as shown in Fig. 2. The abutting side edgesof adjacent sections It] in each row are similarly. locked togetherby'transverse keys H! (see Fig. which may extend inward to thelongitudinal key I! ('Fig. 4) as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2.The floor boards l5, it will be noted from Fig. 5, extend somewhatbeyond the outer ends of the sections 10; and to the projecting portionsare secured, at the top, convex ridge strips 20, and at the bottomconcaved strips 2|. Similar ridge strips 22 and 23 are secured alongprojecting portions of the flooring l 5 at the outer edges of thesections as shown in Fig. 2. The function of the strips 20, 2| and 22,'23 will be pointed out later.

The outer side and end walls of the building are similarly composed ofpre-formed standardized hollow sections 24, 25 respectively which, inturn, are identical except for certain details presently noted. Asshown, each side wall section 24, 25 has a foundation frame consistingof horizontal top and bottom members 26, 21 and vertical'side edgemembers 28, 29 respectively to which the outer and inner wall boards 30and 3| are secured. The hollows of the wall sections may be filled withrock wool or other suitable thermal insulation as conventionallyindicated at 32. The outer boards 30 of the side wall sections 24 extendbelow the level of the floor boards 15, and their bottomuframe members21 are cut away on a curve as 'at 33 to fit over the strips 22 of theground floor structure, as shown in Fig. 2, and to the extended portionsof said side boards are secured convex strips 34 to fit over theconcaved strips;23 -on saidground floor structure. From Fig. 1 it willbe observed thatthe same construction is resorted to in the end wallsections where the outer boards are extended below the floor levelgandthe bottom frame members 21 concavely rounded at 35 to fit the strips 20andthe convex strips 36 secured to the extensions of said boards to fitunder the concaved strips 2|. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the wallsections 24 and 25 are provided at the top and bottom with interiorfinishing strips 31 and 38 respectively. In consequence of theconstruction just described, the side and end wall sections 24, 25-canbeswung upward from horizontal position in the manner indicated inbroken lines in Fig. 1 to the full line vertical position, withattendant interlocking of their bottom edges with thecorresponding edgesof the fioor, the strips 20, 34-and ;22,.36 thereafter preventinglateral and upward displacement of such sections. The endmost sectionsof adjacent side and end walls are complementally beveled alongcontiguous vertical edges asat 4!) in Fig. 8 to meet in miter joints"and are lockedtogether by double dove tail keys 4| engagingcomplemental key Ways 42 saidedges as shown in Fig. 8. The intermediatesections of the side and end walls are similarly interlocked along theirmutually abutting side edges by vertical keys 43. Certain of the side orend wall sections may be provided with doors as instanced at 44 in Fig.8, and others of said sections with windows as instanced at 45. Inaddition to the various features already described in connection withthem, the component sections 24, 25 of the side and end walls areprovided at their top edges with upwardly extending tongues 46 and 47,see Figs. 6 and '7, for a purpose hereinafter set forth. The endmostcomponents 25 of the side walls are moreover provided on their outerfaces and along their top edges with concaved strips 48.

The upper or attic floor of the building comprises a plurality ofprefabricated hollow trusslike sections 56 which --are relatively deepand which in the illustrated instance, are of a length to span thebuilding from one side wall to the other, one of these sections beingshown in perspective in Fig. 11. Each section 50 has its endscomplementarily sloped as at 5| and is interiorly braced bysuitably-spaced joist-like members 52 to which the floor boards 52 aresecured at the top, and which are connected at the bottom by sub-boards54 to serve as a ceiling for the lower story f the building. Adjacentsections 50 are locked together by keys 55, like those previouslydescribed, run endwise through complemental key ways 56 in theirmutually abutting side edges, see Fig. 1. At opposite ends, the sections50 are grooved at the bottom as at 5'! to engage over the upstandingtongue projections 46 at the tops of the side wallsections 24 as shownin Fig. 2. Adjacent their outer sides at the bottom, the endmostsections are provided with similar grooves 58 (Fig. 1) to fit over theupstanding tongues 41 at the tops of the end wall sections 25. By reasonof this last described construction, it will be seen.

that the.-top floor structure effectively ties together the four wallsof the building. The floor boards 53, see Fig. 1, are extended beyondthe outer side edges of the endmost sections 50, and to the projectingportions are secured, top and bottom, convex and concaved strips 59 and60 respectively.

, The attic of the building is closed in at the ends by preformed gablesections 6|, which, like all the other'wall sections, are constructedhollow and maybe filled with insulation. They are made triangular inshape with sloping edges to coincide with the sloping ends 5| of theupper floor sections '50 as shown in Fig. 3. The bottom cross member 62of each gable section BI is convexly cut as at 63 to, fit onto theconvex strip 59 on the corresponding endmost section 50 of the atticfloor structure as shown in Fig. 1, and their outer boards 64 areextended below said cross member and have secured to them a convex strip65 to snugly engage beneath the concaved strip Gil on said attic floorsection. This arrangement makes possible the upward swinging ofthe'gable sections 6| to vertical position from the horizontal about thehinge juncture constituted by the .parts' 59, 60, 62 and 65, withincidental locking of said sections against either up or downdisplacement after they have been assembled.

The sloping roof sides are in turn composed of suitably internallybraced hollow prefabricated sections 10 of standardized dimensionswhich, in turn, maybefilledwith insulating material, and adjacentsections interlocked along their mutually abutting side edges by doubledove tail keys H as shown in Fig. 9. At their lower ends,

the roof sectionslfl are provided with pendent after assembling, saidroof sections are securely locked against displacement with respect toboth andom the side wall sections "24 and said attic floor sectionsasclearly shown in Fig.2. The gable :sections -64 and the endmos't roof.sections 11) :are locked together along the regions .of mutual abutmentby double dove tail key :indicated at 1B in Figsr3and 8.

The ridge of the roof is formed by a key '11 which, as seen in Fig. 3,has cemplementallyincli-necl longitudinal-grooves 1 8 -to engage the.upper edges of the sections l0 composing theoppositely sloped sides ofthe roof, and which, in assembling, its run in endwise and whichpreferably extends the full lengthof the building. In the presentinstance, the upper ends of the roof sections ".14! are marginallyreduced in thickness as at 1-9 so that the outer faces {of the :ridgebar 1;! may be flush with the outer faces of said sections, asshown.

For the purpose of subdividing the interior of the building "intoroom's, "I'have provided hollow partition sections, such as the oneshown at 80 in Fig. 2, having longitudinal grooves BI and 82 in theirbottom and top edges. The bottom edge of each partition section isengaged over a locating strip 83 fastened to the floor, and the upperedge engaged with the pendent longitudinal tongue 84 of a grooved key 85which is in turn engaged with a locating strip 86 on the ceiling boards54 of the upper floor sections 50, the key being of course run intoplace endwise subsequent to erection of the partition over the strip 83.

The various components of the building are assembled in the order inwhich they have been described, and a separate explanation of theprocedure is therefore deemed to be unnecessary.

In the modified embodiment illustrated in Fig. 12, the attic is providedwith side wall partitions 9|] and a ceiling 9| which, it is to beunderstood, are constituted by multiple prefabricated sec tions sinallyarranged lengthwise of the building and keyed together along mutuallyabutting edges. As shown, the partitions 3!] are interlocked top andbottom with the roof sections 10a and with the upper fioor sections 50by means of keys 92, 93, and the ceiling 9l' with said roof sections bymeans of keys 94, said keys being all similar to those described inconnection with the first described embodiment. By reason of thisconstruction, the partition and ceiling sections in effect become trussor bracing members capable of acting either in tension or compression asmay be necessary to assist in the proportional distribution of stressesor strains occasioned locally in any part of the building through windpressure, floor loading, or from any other cause. In order to precludethe necessity for repetitive description, all other elements of themodified construction not specifically referred to but having theircounterparts in the first described form of my invention, are identifiedby the same reference numerals previously used with addition in eachinstance of the letter a for convenience of better distinction.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the various component sectionsof the building in both illustrated embodiments are so interlocked thatthe stresses and strains to which any one of them may be directlysubjected are effectively transmitted to and proportionately shared bythe other parts throughout the completed structure. Due to the doubledove-tail cross sectional configuration of the various keys and keyways,the joints formed by them are resistive to the passage of either air orwater through them. It will be further apparent that the improvedsystem'of interlocking oints which I have-devised is -highly :a'd-"vantageous in tha'tiit does away with the necessity for the use ofnails or screws; in that it'malkes possible the more rapid assemblingand erection of the-various component sections; and in thatit favorslighter construction "of the sections with corresponding saving in theamount of material required in their fabrication. The various componentparts need not necessarily be 'pieced' together from lumber. as hereinconventionally :shownibyway of example, but, if desired, may befashioned from metal by casting, rolling or 'extrusion, or even moldedfrom concrete or plastic materials as integral .units, with incidentalincorporation of'my novel interlocking features as suggested in Fig. 12.p By suitable modifications within the scope of the appended claims, itisof course feasible to construct buildings different in-design from theone herein shown by way of example having other than rectangular floorplans as well as additional upper stories.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A building comprising a ground floor; prefabricated side and endwalls with looking hinge means along their bottom edges connected withcorresponding edges of the ground floor, the vertical edges of said sideand end walls being beveled and meeting in miter joints at the cornersof the building and being provided with longitudinally-extendingcomplemental undercut grooves; and continuous crosssectionally-conformative locking keys engaging the complemental groovesin the meeting edges of the side and end Walls at corners.

2. A building according to claim 1, in which the side walls are hollowand filled with thermal insulation.

3. A building according to claim 1, wherein the side walls are composedof aligned multiple upright sections with complemental undercut groovesin their mutually abutting vertical edges; and further includingcontinuous cross sectionally conformative supplemental locking keysengaged in the latter grooves.

4. A gable ended building comprising a ground floor; side and end wallsconnected at their bottom edges to corresponding edges of the floor andhaving upstanding tongue projections along their top edges; aprefabricated rectangular upper fioor having grooves in its bottomadjacent its edges in engagement with the upstanding tongue projectionsat the tops of the side and end walls, opposite ends of said upper floorbeing complementally sloped to conform with the gable angle;prefabricated roof sides connected by hinge means along their bottomedges with the upper edges of opposite side walls and with thecorresponding ends of the upper floor; and a. locking ridge member inthe form of a continuous key having oppositely inclined grooves engagedwith the top edges of the roof sides.

5. A building comprising a ground floor; side and end walls connected attheir bottom edges to corresponding edges of the floor and havingupstanding tongue projections along their top edges; a prefabricatedrectangular upper floor having grooves in its bottom adjacent its edgesto engagement with the upstanding tongue projections at the tops of theside and end walls, 0pposite ends of said upper fioor beingcomplementally sloped to conform with the gable angle; prefabricatedroof sides with locking hinge means along their bottom edges connectingthe upper edges of opposite side walls and with the corresponding endsof the upper floor; a ridge member in the form of a. continuous lockingkey having oppositely inclined grooves in engagement with the upperedges of the roof sides; triangular gable end sections connected byhinge means along their bottom edges to the corresponding edges of theupper floor and having complemental undercut grooves respectively alongtheir sloping edges; and continuous cross sectionally conformativelocln'ng keys engaging the grooves along the meeting edges of the roofsides and the gable sections.

EDWARD P. SIMON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Name Date Curtis et a1 Dec. 3, 1935Onsrud Jan. 7, 1936 Marston Dec. 6, 1938 Grunert June 18, 1940Hulslander Aug. 12, 1941 Wilson June 15, 1943 Fuehrer Feb. 22, 1944Teague et a1 Mar. 28, 1944 Sheldon Nov. 7, 1944 Dalton, 2d Nov. 21, 1944Eichelberger Nov. 21, 1944 Kaufman Mar. 13, 1945 Brunton et al Oct. 9,1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Sweden 1921

